Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in people living and working in pig farms.
We compared the prevalence of human and animal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at pig farms in The Netherlands, and related this to individual and farm-level characteristics. More than half of the farms investigated (28/50) had MRSA in pigs or stable dust and about one third (15/50) of person(s) were identified as MRSA carriers. Human carriage was found only on farms with MRSA-positive pigs or dust. MRSA strains in human samples were the same spa-type as found in pigs and all were not typable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (NT-MRSA). Multivariate analyses showed that risk factors for human MRSA carriage were: working in pig stables (OR 40, 95% CI 8-209) and the presence of sows and finishing pigs (OR 9, 95% CI 3-30). Veterinary sample collectors sampling the pigs showed transient MRSA carriage only during the day of the farm visit. Working in pig stables with MRSA-positive pigs poses a high risk for acquiring MRSA, increasingly so when contact with live pigs is more intensive or long lasting.
VAN DEN Broek
I V F
IV
Epidemiology & Surveillance Unit, Centre Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Ingrid.van.den.broek@rivm.nl
VAN Cleef
B A G L
BA
Haenen
A
A
Broens
E M
EM
VAN DER Wolf
P J
PJ
VAN DEN Broek
M J M
MJ
Huijsdens
X W
XW
Kluytmans
J A J W
JA
VAN DE Giessen
A W
AW
Tiemersma
E W
EW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D012424:Rural Population; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*; D055815:Young Adult
D004269:DNA, Bacterial